Survival characteristics of pathogens inoculated into bottled mineral water

To assess the risk of contracting a waterborne disease from mineral water a nd to implement control systems in the mineral water industry, knowledge of the factors affecting the survival and multiplication of non-indigenous ba cteria is needed. The survival of Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus and Yersinia enterocolitica inoculated into a Portug uese bottled mineral water was investigated under different conditions: lig ht and dark, different recovery media, presence or absence of autochthonous flora and different ages of water, based on their culturability. For all t he pathogenic bacteria higher survival was obtained under dark conditions o f storage and when enumeration was performed on non-selective media. Surviv al of E. coli, Y. enterocolitica and S. typhimurium was longer in fresh wat er than in old water; results obtained with S. aureus were not conclusive. Survival of E. coli, Y. enterocolitica and S. typhimurium was lower in non- sterile mineral water while the survival of S. aureus was lower in steriliz ed mineral water. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.